


Welcoming Ceremony

by Xenamorph



Series: Sestiva Sunthorn Saga [2]
Category: Wizard101
Genre: Gen, Neopronouns, Nonbinary Character, Wizard City
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21724123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenamorph/pseuds/Xenamorph
Series: Sestiva Sunthorn Saga [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552402
Kudos: 1





	Welcoming Ceremony

Sestiva had no idea what ze was getting zirself into when ze asked zir fathers to go to Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. Zir parents were supportive (they had never been anything but), if a bit wary of sending their only child off to Ravenwood. 

Zir father heard of rumors of a power-mad teacher who destroyed a section of the school grounds and then left. Zir papa heard that Balance magic wasn’t even given a classroom and instead forced to teach outside. But still, Sestiva wanted to go, and so they let zir. It was easier this way, not that Sestiva would’ve thrown a fit, but more so that ze would’ve found a way regardless. So they sent zir off, with bags packed and a comfortable (and enchanted) cloak. 

Sestiva thought that everything was fine when ze first got there, if a tad condescending. Zir wings fluttered behind zir in frustration as Merle Ambrose’s pet owl patiently (as if talking to a larva!) explained how battling worked. Oh it just got zir so incensed! Ze wasn’t some larva freshly pupated! To speak about how Wizards just loved to duell. And then to get interrupted because apparently a Spiral-famous wizarding school couldn’t even keep its grounds secured!

But of course, the best turn of action when a shadowy figure crosses an uppermost tower window is to turn to the 12 year old moth in front of you and command zir to follow you. And so Sestiva was ushered into Golem Tower. Completely devoid of any context, ze watches two old men argue with each other while ze just flitters nervously and hopes that no attention is drawn to zir. Of course, things never happen the way ze wants them to. 

Draconians get summoned and suddenly Sestiva is forced to battle the two of them. Ze is given spells ze has never used before, never worked with before, and the incantations come out clunky and wrong. Still, the spells work and Sestiva despises the powers in zir veins for obeying such foreign words with no intent behind them. Despises the unfamiliar burn of Pyromancy, the heart-pounding feeling of Conjuring, the sight of Draconians fading into the ether. 

Sestiva is left there, in the still emberous remains of the dueling circle, as Malestaire and Merle (calling him Headmaster Ambrose requires too much respect that he hasn’t yet earned) argued and the former vanished. It was only then that Merle noticed the still-kneeling moth child, and decided to oh-so-generously heal zir back up.

“Miss Sunthorn-” Zir feelers flick back at the sound of the family name ze was forced to choose.

“It’s Mx. Sunthorn.” Sestiva almost grinds out, feelers flicking back and forth as ze felt the rush of magic restore zir health and mana. Wings fluttering just a bit underneath their plain grey cloak, and ze lifted a leg to rub against the other; producing a soft chirp-ing noise.

“That’s what I said-” Merle says, in that patronizing tone of his- “You must be of the Khrysalian Sunthorns, correct?”

“That’s not our name. Our name is-” Zir voice devolves into chirps and buzzes, punctuated by the fluttering of wings.

“I-I see.” Merle gives zir another patronizing look, with something that should be a fatherly smile (nothing like zir actual fathers, who were kind and proud and loving and oh ze missed them). “Anyway, M...Mx Sunthorn, I’m sure you have many questions and I would be glad to answer them but-”

“-No.”

“N-No?” Merle’s brow furrowed as he frowned.

“No.” Sestiva glared up at him, shoulders squaring as ze bristled, “You are going to explain just who the fuck-”

“Language!” Merle admonished, waggling a finger down at zir.

The only thing Sestiva could do was tremble with rage as ze was talked down to for the second time, “What _ever_ , I want answers on who that man was and just how safe this school really is.” Zir wings began to beat, allowing zir to rise up to stare Merle in the eye. Zir antennae were pulled back over zir head, “I doubt that my fathers would be rather glad that their only child is being put in danger by an incompetent man who brings a child with him to look at something dangerous.”

Merle just gave a soft chuckle as he raised a hand to pat Sestiva on top of zir head (which ze quickly ducked out of the way of), “Don’t be silly, young wizard, everything is perfectly safe here. Now, why don’t you go along to Ravenwood before we get you started on the work effort with Unicorn Way.”

Sestiva gaped at the retreating back of Merle as he made his way into his tower with Gamma. Ze shoved zir hand into the pack hanging at zir side, rummaging around before pulling out a well-worn chunk of astral shard. Rubbing zir pads over it, ze found zirself going over well memorized impressions in the rock. 

_In one two three four,_ Sestiva held zir breath, internally saying _Hold one two_ and breathed out. Putting the stone back in zir pocket, ze began to make zir way past the fairgrounds and houses before ducking into Ravenwood. 

It was a beautiful pavilion, Sestiva knew this to be objectively true. This sector of Wizard City was in eternal dappled afternoon, the sun never too harsh overhead. Turning zir head upwards, ze inhaled softly as the sun warmed zir face. Maybe things could turn out well, maybe Sestiva could learn something on this strange planet with strange looking wizards.

“Ah! You must be the new student!” A voice called from the base of Bartleby, “New Sorcerer, correct?” There was the tapping of a cane as a well-dressed Marleybonian approached zir. Sticking out a hand for a shake, he continued on, “My name is Arthur Wethersfield and I will be your balance instructor.”

Sestiva blinked down at the offered hand, before shaking it with a slight squeeze, “Sestiva, I am here to further my knowledge of balance magic and transmutations, Wethersfield.”

“Ah, fantastic! Normally, new learners have no clue the true implications and uses of balance magic so you will definitely be a breath of fresh air...” He trailed off as he pulled out Sestiva’s transfer student sheet, “Mx Sunthorn!”

Ze let out a trilling noise at the sound of the proper honorifics, “Of course I will be and of course I do, I already have some reagents that my fathers sent me with from my homeland of Khrysalis.”

“Oh, and am I correct to assume that you have brought stardust with you?”

Sestiva’s feelers flicked and ze nodded, rummaging in zir bag to pull out four glass vials filled with finely powdered purplish stardust. “Of course, it is very rare but we have a few comet trails that consistently smash into our backyard so Papa allowed me to bring some of the spare.”

“Smashing!” Arthur clapped his hands together and beamed down at zir, “Now, you should probably get along to the other Professors, see if any of them fit well enough for you to consider taking up a secondary! Most Sorcerers end up taking a secondary school for the first few years of their study in Balance, just to be able to have more damaging hits.”

“I suppose I shall. Where should I come back to meet you for lessons.” Sestiva turned zir head from side to side, noticing that the other schools had buildings and trees dedicated to them and Arthur did not.

“Ah…” Arthur grimaced as he rubbed the back of his neck with one paw, “We really just meet in this center circle. Sorcery is a new age magic, you know, so we haven’t really gotten permission to form a school building.”

“New age magic? That’s ridiculous!” Sestiva crossed zir arms over zir chest, glancing around until ze eyes set on the tunnel to the Commons. Zir eyes narrowed and ze made another buzzing noise. “In Khrysalis, we have Balance magic! It is a fully respected magical school, even if translating Mander scrolls is difficult. But we get shipments from Krokotopia every decade or so, so we have time to decipher.”

“Ah well, all we can do is prove that we are a true magic school to the Headmaster. And maybe then we shall gain a place to teach. But until then, maybe you can give me a hand in translating a few of the Mander scrolls we possess.” Arthur moved back over to his suitcases. “But really, go talk to the other teachers, they’re good with helping out in terms of classroom-necessitated learning.”

Sestiva’s hand twitched and ze shoved it into zir bag, pulling out the astral shard. “Alright. Alright,” Ze murmured as ze turned to the left and moved towards the Life School. Eyes slipping shut as a low breath left zir lips, allowing zir to relax in the air of Life. Ze could hear the Song of Creation, discordant and amatuer but there, coming from the open classroom windows.

“Hello, young sorcerer.” A voice came from right next to the School proper.

Sestiva jumped, whirling around with zir wings spread behind zir. A buzzing noise filling the area as the second section of wing chafed against its pair, Sestiva’s hands frantically tugging at zir materials pouch before zir eyes landed on the speaker. A kindly looking cherry blossom tree with a face in it’s bark. Sestiva slowly allowed zir wings to fold back at her back. “Who...are you?”

“Blossom, dearie.” The voice reminded Sestiva of some of the older Mantises that would knit and gossip in the pavilion area of neighborhoods. It reminded zir of home. “Are you a new student?”

“Very.” Sestiva murmured as ze flitted closer, feeling comforted, “Are you the Life teacher?”

The tree laughed, not unkindly, “No, I’m just the Life Tree. Moolinda Wu is inside.” One of her boughs moved down to tap against the window, visibly startling one of the Theurgists inside. “Go speak with her, she won’t mind a brief interruption.”

Sestiva hummed in the well of zir chest, feelers twitching as ze began to move down the cobblestone path and gently pushed open the door. “Um, hello? Madame Wu?” Zir voice was soft as ze padded inside, shuffling zir feet along the carpet to properly feel it. 

“Welcome, my dear young wizard,” The Life teacher (a cow from Mooshu) smiled down at zir as she gestured for the wizard next to her to wait for a second. “I am Moolinda Wu, and I’m the Life teacher of Ravenwood. Us Theurgists have the ability to harness the Song of Creation itself, just a few notes can lift one’s troubles, purify one’s spirit, and restore life!” Putting a hoof on the wizards shoulder, Moolina used the other hoof to gesture to him, “Andrew here is a very accomplished Theurgist, though he specializes in alchemy and potioneering.”

Andrew flushed, a hand raising to scratch at the back of his neck, “Aw, jeez, Missus Wu. I ain’t all that good at it. Hilda Brewer’s a better potioneer than I am.”

“Hilda has been perfecting her craft for decades now, you are up and coming.” Moolinda’s voice was a parental mix of praise and admonishment and she turned her focus back on Andrew with merely a kind, “Come back to me if you feel the draw of Creation.”

Sestiva took that as zir cue to leave. Hovering just a bit in order to make zir retreat silent, ze exited out of the Life classroom and moved on to the next. Passing a cyclops tree, Sestiva made zir way into the Myth classroom. “Hello? Professor-” a glance down at the scroll in zir hand- “Drake?”

“Oh, and what do we have here? Another Conjurer want-to-be taking the Ravenwood tour?” A sneering voice spoke up from the front of the classroom, and Cyrus Drake turned around from the blackboard. A quick look of shock passed over his face when he saw Sestiva, before it faded into the same condescension that he had before. It sort of comforted zir, knowing that being a moth isn’t enough to stop a mean teacher. Cyrus shook his head with a slight scoff, “I wish they would send us some adept pupils once in a while.”

“Professor Drake!” A student near the front admonished, seemingly unphased by the harsh glare that was sent their way, and they adjusted the thick red-rimmed glasses on their nose, “That’s not nice, you can’t just be mean to every lil moth child who walks into this room!”

“Mx. Rubymask, I am the teacher here and-” Drake cut himself off, seemingly locked into a staring contest with the Conjurer at the first table. Sestiva found zirself captivated by them, looking back and forth between the student and the teacher until eventually Cyrus was the one to look away. “Well. If you wish to _attempt_ to learn some Myth spells, come back later and I will see how well you pay attention. Now leave my classroom so I can continue to teach.”

Sestiva nodded zir head, not wanting to press Professor Drake too much on zir first day (though ze could see zirself pushing his buttons during zir stay here). Turning on zir heel, Sestiva made zir way out of the Myth class and walked forward. Until a quick hand lashed out and grabbed zir by the wrist.

“Whoa there!” A voice spoke from zir left, “Almost had quite the fall there, we don’t know exactly where that hole leads!”

Sestiva glanced down and almost shrieked at the sight of _nothing_ below zir left foot. An entire section of the pavilion had crumbled away to nothing, leaving a hole in the area. A hole that fell down to nothing, even as Sestiva looked over there was nothing below it. Just endless sky, “W-what the hell happened there!”

“That’s where the death school used to be.” Sestiva turned around to catch sight of a tanned young man, currently in the process of flicking one of the hanging parts of his jester(?) hat. “It’s said that Malestaire, the old death professor, caused it to disappear. I’m not sure what exactly happened to the school but everyone has their own version of it.” He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“And...who are you? I have to assume you’re a Necromancer considering all of the black you have on, unless you’re a Theurgist with a really weird sense of humor.” Sestiva reached up to flick one of the hanging bells.

He laughed at the jingling noise it made, and stuck out a hand for zir to shake, “Malorn Ashthorn, and not to brag but I used to be one of his top students.” Malorn puffed out his chest for a second, before deflating as he continued, “Now I’m all that’s left, so I try to teach the new students.” A slight shrug of his shoulders and he fiddled with his deck (a well worn wooden box), “If you want to learn Necromancy? I’m here for all your death spell needs.”

“Will do.” Sestiva’s voice is soft as ze looks up at this student who couldn’t be much older than ze was. “Good luck with teaching, Malorn.” Zir voice was a hum as ze floated over Bartleby’s roots in order to reach the Fire school. Much like a moth to flame (ze laughed, internalizing to write about that joke to zir fathers), Sestiva found the door to the Fire school.

Like the Life school, the Fire school had an overwhelming aura around it. Unlike the Life school, this one was far from relaxing. Sestiva could feel zir body tensing up, readying for a fight and zir mind quickly scanning through all of the spells ze had access to. Until, a voice from the front broke zir out of the fighting stance ze had slipped into.

“Hello. Welcome to the school of Fire, I am Madame Falmea.” Falmea, or Dahlia as the scroll said her first name was, was absolutely stunning. Gravity-defying hair, piercing eyes, and her dress seemed to be on fire. “Apologies for the adrenaline spike, I have my students currently learning blades and it tends to have that effect on those not intimately intertwined with Pyromancy.” 

“It’s alright, Madame, I have always been influenced by magical auras, this is nothing new.” Sestiva pressed zir fingertips together nervously, blinking zir eyes faster as the smoke inside the building began to irritate them.

“Ah, of course, you must be the new student. You definitely have that spark about you!” There was a bit of a sparkle in her eyes, a small curl to her lips, “Here I instruct students how to be powerful Pyromancers!” Falmea spread her arms, sparks coming from her fingers as she did so. The furthest wall shimmered to translucence, showing Pyromancers hard at work in the training room, before solidifying back to opaqueness. 

Sestiva gasped at the display, eyes going wide at the brief glimpse of Pyromancers slinging balls of flame and waves of heat at each other. Zir feelers were straight up with interest, but soon zir attention was pulled back to the teacher.

“But Fire can be quite dangerous-” Dahlia rolled a sleeve up, showing off old burn scars that made Sestiva’s breath hitch, “- We must not be rash, lest we destroy that which we mean to achieve.” As she adjusted her sleeve, Madame Falmea smiled softly at zir, “Come see me after you have finished the tour. I’m always up for fanning the flames so students can learn more about Pyromancy.”

“Of course, Madama Dahlia!” Ze chirruped, hovering a bit above the carpet as ze began to move towards the door. Sending one last glance towards the fire elf, Sestiva left the Fire school. A quick glance at the scroll, and ze was off to the Ice school.

Of course, as always, ze couldn’t move more than a few feet before zir thoughts were interrupted by a new voice, “Hello there.” It sounded rumbling, sort of like the Spider that had taken up residence in one of the old caves in zir borough.

Sighing out, Sestiva paused and moved off of the cobblestones to be in front of the Fire tree. Ze wished that some descriptors would be less literal in the future, staring up at the tree’s smoldering branches. “Ah, hello there.”

“A new wizard, eh? Taking that old Ravenwood tour they make every new student do, even if they already have a chosen school of magic?” 

“So this isn’t just for transfers?” Sestiva tilted zir head, blinking at the tree. “They make every student do this? Even those from Wizard City?”

“Yeah, I see it every few days. You better run along now, sorcerer, that Storm teacher never stays in one place long and he’s a-waiting you.” Bernie gave what amounted to a smile for a tree, and Sestiva was on zir way.

Of course, ze had to first stop at Professor Greyrose’s classroom. As ze entered the room, zir eyelids slipped half shut just from the cold. It only got this cold on a regular basis on Khrysalis, and Sestiva didn’t remember any of that cold because ze was too busy hibernating. Muffling a yawn with one hand, ze slowly waved the other, “H-hello, Professor of Ice.”

“Welcome, dear! I am Lydia Greyrose, your Ice Magic Professor! Ice Magic, or Thaumaturgy, is not for the impatient or flighty. My goodness, no!” As a way of punctuating, the small fairy flittered up and down above her desk, “You’ll need to study hard to learn Ice Magic, but I am sure you will be great at it. And I’ll always offer a hand if you need it.”

There was the sound of something shattering from an off-room and Greyrose mumbled something under her breath as she began to move in that direction, “Come and see me later when you are ready to begin your lessons. You have so much to learn from Ice!” A cheery laugh and she turned towards the open archway, “Destiny put Nicole down! This is a training room not a playground!”

Sestiva gave a slightly sleepy chuckle, eyes still lidded as ze slowly moved in the direction of the door. Zir leg banged against the desk and ze felt a steadying hand on zir shoulder.

“Whoa there, buddy, almost took a spill.” The Thaumaturge’s voice was soft in Sestiva’s ear as he gently guided Sestiva out of the Ice school. One of his hands moved to summon a flicker of fire that danced around his fingers, “Always knew that taking up a few Pyromancy spells would come in handy.”

Screwing zir eyes shut, Sestiva made a hum of appreciation as ze was led closer to the Storm school. The electricity giving zir enough of a shock (literally) to keep them awake after the Ice school’s lethargy, “Sorry...about that.” Zir voice was tired, interspersed with a wide yawn.

“Don’t think twice about it, I’ve done some research on the people of Khrysalis for my thesis.” The Thaumaturge stuck out his still flaming hand (before cursing quietly and shaking the fire out), “Fallon MirrorBreaker, nice to meet you.”

“Sestiva, a pleasure.” Ze shook his hand, smiling as ze did so. “And if you want something more than just old scripts and folktales, I can tell you whatever you want about Khrysalis!”

“Wait, so you’re actually from there? Like you’re not the kid of travellers from the old time?” Fallon paused the two of them outside of the Storm school, one hand still on Sestiva’s arm.

“Nope! I just came through from Khrysalis.”

“I thought the Spiral key had been lost to time?” Fallon frowned, moving to grab some parchment and ink as he began to write that down.

“Well, yes, and the Spiral Door there is destroyed. But, there are other ways to travel between worlds, if you know how to access them.” Sestiva opened zir mouth to say more, but the scroll in zir hand buzzed and ze sighed out instead, “I have to finish my tour and orientation, first. I will be living in dorms nearest to the Life School.”

“But-” Fallon stopped himself as he heard another crash come from the Ice school, “-I’ll see you then, I have to make sure Nicole didn’t ruin my project.” With a flash of a peace sign, he was off. 

Sestiva paused outside the door to the school, hand stalled over the handle. The static electricity was already making zir fur fluff up, and ze dreaded how worse it’ll get inside of the school. But still, there were introductions to be made and a reward to receive. Placing zir hand on the wood of the door, Sestiva pushed it open and called out, “Professor Haleston Balestrom?”

“In the flesh!” came the reply from the front of the room. As Sestiva’s eyes were drawn to the desk at the end of the lines of desks, ze almost had to immediately avert zir eyes away from the bright lightening that was contained in a bottle there. “Ah! A new student!” The frog teacher hopped off of the desk and pulled the power that was powering the ball lightning. “Welcome to the School of Storm, also known as Divination! For those who have chosen to master this Magic are known as Diviners!” He stuck out a slightly slimy hand for Sestiva to shake. “My name is Professor Haleston Balestrom, Master Inventor! Oh, yes, and Professor of Storm Magic.”

Ze paused for a second, staring at the hand, before reaching out to gingerly shake Balestrom’s hand, “I am the new student, taking the Ravenwood tour. My name is Sestiva and I wish to know more about Divination.” Zir shoulders tensed slightly as ze was shocked from the static electricity in the air.

“Ah, you’re the new transfer from Khrysalis! Astounding! I know you may not think yourself fully suited to Divination but if you put yourself to it I promise I’ll make a Visionary Diviner out of you!” 

“I would take you up on that offer if I hadn’t already been practicing Sorcery since I pupated.” Sestiva found zirself bouncing slightly on the balls of zir feet, the professor’s energy being contagious.

“Ah, a shame! Arthur always seems to get the best of the lot! But, Balance and Storm magic do have things in common! Who can master the power of the Storm Lords and the Seas? Anyone who can harness their creativity!” He gave a conspiratory wink and moved to hop his way back on top of his desk, calling back to zir: “You look like a smart one! Check back when you are ready to start learning how to release your inner thunder!” His words were punctuated by the crackle of the ball lightening reforming. 

“Alright Professor Balestrom!” Ze called, quickly leaving the room with zir fur all fluffy and head almost aching. The scroll shimmered in zir hand as the objective changed, and Sestiva scowled at the sight of the next Professor ze had to talk to. But still, there were rewards to be gotten and a dorm room to adjust to, so Sestiva began zir way down the tunnel to the Commons.

With only a few delays where ze had to dodge out of the way of some jackass on their mount, Sestiva found zirself taking the entrance in through Gamma’s tower. Just barely dodging a conversation with the owl, ze opened the door to the tower main. “Hello, Professor Ambrose, I’ve talked to all of the Professors of Magic.”

“Good! Now you know where all of your classes are held! I hope you liked all the Ravenwood instructors.”

“All of my classes? I thought that they just taught their respective Schools of Magic?” Sestiva cocked zir head to the side, feelers flicking down.

“Well, yes, but as a Sorcerer, it’s important that you take at least a few classes from each School in order to perfect your casting.” He adjusted the monocle in his eye, “If you want, since all classes are already mid-swing, you can wander about to see what all of Wizard City has to offer.” 

“That sounds nice, will my classes resume tomorrow?”

“Naturally. Although…” Merle trailed off, looking past Sestiva in favor of staring into the blue crystal ball on a stand, “I should mention though, there have been some strange events around town. Nothing serious...Nothing that a promising Wizard like you couldn’t handle.” Somehow those words didn’t exactly inspire confidence in zir. “Anyway, as a reward for visiting all of your instructors, here is a new spell card! Don’t forget to add it to your deck!”

Sestiva found zirself being ushered off by a tired looking Necromancer as he shifted to take the attention of the Headmaster. Though, ze wasn’t planning on staying any longer, so ze moved out of the Headmaster’s house and walked up to zir dorms. Having to dodge more mounts and extremely rude and fast people (oh ze longed for the empty streets of the Silent Market), Sestiva fluttered as fast as zir wings could carry until ze made zir way up to the dorms. Having to check zir original enrollment parchment as ze ascended up the stairs to the given room number.

Each student was allowed a small dorm room (until of course they cobbled together enough money to buy their own castle plot), and they were all magically crammed next to each other. Sestiva, upon staring at the bustling hallway of wizards of all Schools and experience, decided that now would be the best time to fly above their heads.

Zir wings flapped as ze counted off room numbers until ze came to the zir designated one. “Room 413, Sestiva-” Sestiva let out a low thrum at the sight of zir ‘last name’ engraved on the metal, and resolved to fix it tomorrow. Moving down until zir feet were on the floor, Sestiva opened the door and slipped inside before anyone could run into zir. 

The room was nice, if cold. One of the walls had light traces of frost on it, probably from the Thaumaturge in room 412, and the other seemed to be affected by whatever Necromancy the wizard in 414 was doing. Sestiva sighed at the sight of the bed, and took out another piece of parchment and began to write down notes.

A list of what ze should do in order of when ze needs them to be accomplished. Resolving to get more parchment and ink, get more heat sources, spin a cocoon to sleep in, and get money to get away from the dorms.

Slumping back on the bed, Sestiva curled up and blanketed zirself with zir wings. Falling asleep very quickly with the cold emanating from the shared wall, Sestiva knew that ze needed the sleep for tomorrow’s classes.


End file.
